


once in twenty lifetimes

by caitlesshea



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Happy Ending, Immortal Husbands, Loss of Immortality, M/M, Proposals, TOG Mini Bang 2020, Through the Years, Weddings, booker and copley adopt a baby, booker and joe/nicky brotherhood, major character death - old age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28416096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitlesshea/pseuds/caitlesshea
Summary: “Holy shit.” Nile exclaims as they all step out of the orphanage and onto the street.“Shit,” Andy swears and then looks sheepish when the baby looks at her. “Copley said all of the kids were already safe.”Joe can feel her frustration. A job from Copley and Booker involving kids is what got them into this mess with Copley in the first place and to have a second job go south on them isn’t good, but they can’t just leave the baby.OrFinding a baby on a mission leads to a family Joe never knew he wanted.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/James Copley, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 25
Kudos: 133
Collections: The Old Guard Mini Bang 2020





	once in twenty lifetimes

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to The Old Guard Big Bang.
> 
> This fic has been a labor of love and would not have been possible without Steph and Marlo cheering me on. Love you!
> 
> Thank you [static_abyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/pseuds/static_abyss/) for the beta! This fic was an absolute mess and you saved it. 
> 
> Thank you [elenorasweet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenorasweet/pseuds/elenorasweet/) for the most amazing [art!](https://elenorasweet.tumblr.com/post/638974884663459840/my-art-for-the-theoldguardevents-mini-bang-part) It's like you pulled that scene right out of my head and made it beautiful.

**2020**

“He thinks we don’t remember,” Joe says as he looks over at Nicky as they stand and look down at the tombstone in front of them.

They only come here every hundred years or so, because it’s easier for Nicky the longer they’re away. But Genova will always hold a special place in both of their hearts.

“Maybe we don’t remember. Not like he does,” Nicky says, so quietly that Joe thinks he misheard him.

“Nicolò.”

“I love you.” 

Joe turns to look at Nicky, sees the love he feels reflected back in his eyes, and thinks himself the luckiest man to have ever lived, more than a couple times over. 

“But my love for Maria.” Nicky rubs his hand over the top of the grave marker. “It will never compare. Nor should it.”

Joe pulls Nicky closer to him as they look at the tombstones for Nicky’s sister, Maria, and his parents. They'd placed them over their final resting places back in the eighteenth century. A way to always remember them even though they were long gone. His own family has similar ones in the Maghrib. 

“You’re saying we should’ve done better?” Joe asks a little incredulously.

“No. Just, maybe _we_ should try to understand.”

“I understand fine.” 

“Yusuf.”

Joe leans his head on top of Nicky’s from where it’s resting on his shoulder. He doesn’t want to argue with Nicky, here of all places, so he stays quiet, listening to Nicky hum songs of his youth. 

Forgiving Booker almost seems easier than understanding him sometimes. 

**2021**

The anger of Booker’s betrayal left Joe not long after they left Booker on the beach at The Prospect of Whitby. Although the anger at _himself_ has remained even after nearly a year. It feels selfish to think in terms of ‘why didn’t _he_ notice’ and ‘how could _he_ have helped’ but it’s an endless loop playing in his head. So much so that he doesn’t notice the familiar motorcycle parked outside of Copley’s house when they get there to discuss the next job he has for them. 

He also doesn’t notice that Andy, Nile, and Nicky have all stopped walking until he runs into Nicky’s back.

“What?”

“Uhh.” 

Joe looks up at that and quite literally sees the last person he ever expected to see in Copley’s house. 

“Book,” Andy smirks as she pulls him into a hug and then moves aside so Nile can hug him, too. 

Nicky follows, hugging Booker and whispering something to him that has Booker swallowing. 

Before Joe can even attempt to figure out what’s going on, Copley comes out of his office and stops dead in his tracks as he sees all of them standing there with a half-dressed Booker. 

“I’m gonna grab a shirt,” Booker mumbles before putting a hand on Copley’s shoulder and practically running out of the room. 

“You’re an hour early,” Copley raises an eyebrow at them, almost like he’s daring them to say something and Andy shrugs in response. 

Nicky turns around and gives Joe a sharp _look_ and Joe sighs with his _whole_ body as he grumbles.

“Alright. Alright,” Joe says, walking in the direction Booker went as Copley shouts after him.

“Second door on the right.”

Joe flips him off as he knocks on the door and pushes it open. His heart _breaks_ at the sight of Booker on a bed with his head in his hands.

“Sébastien.” Booker’s name comes out as a croak and Booker looks up at him and Joe doesn’t even _remember_ anymore why he was upset.

All he knows is that Booker was, is, hurting, and he wants to be a better brother. In three quick strides, he’s pulling Booker up and into his chest so he can hug him. 

“I’m sorry.” Booker mumbles into his neck. 

Joe rubs the back of his head. “I know. I’m sorry, too.”

“But…”

“No. There’s blame to go around here. Let’s not.”

“Joe.”

Joe wants to give in. He wants to hash everything out, but it’s not the time or place. Joe can recognize a home, a _sanctuary,_ when he sees one, and he won’t ruin this for Booker.

“You know what I want?”

“What?”

“I want to know how _you_ managed to snag a guy like Copley.”

Booker’s entire face turns red and he ducks his head and Joe can’t help it, he laughs. 

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

**~~~**

Teasing Booker would unfortunately have to wait as they head to France to deal with an urgent matter of an orphanage being used as a sex trafficking ring. 

Only when they finish clearing the building, and after they send all the data back to Copley _and_ Booker, they all pause at the sound of a cry. 

Joe’s the first to see her. A baby, no more than six months, lying on a rough blanket on the floor in the basement. He immediately picks her up and her crying turns to sniffles as he hugs her and meets back up with everyone else. 

“Holy shit,” Nile exclaims as they all step out of the orphanage and onto the street. 

“Shit,” Andy swears and then looks sheepish when the baby looks at her. “Copley said all of the kids were already safe.” 

Joe can _feel_ her frustration. A job from Copley and Booker involving kids is what got them into this mess with Copley in the first place. To have a second job go south on them isn’t good, but they can’t just leave the baby.

“We can’t just leave her.” Joe turns her so she’s facing Nile, Andy, and Nicky. Thinking maybe if they _see_ her, they’ll agree. Although none of them would ever leave a child. 

The baby looks surprisingly like a mix between Copley and Booker. The same skin tone and hair as Copley but the same eye color as Booker.

“You’re not thinking?”

“You’re right. We can’t just leave her.” Nicky is so adamant that even if Joe _felt_ like leaving her, he couldn’t.

“Well take her to Copley. He has contacts in France. He’ll be able to find her family or at least another home for her.”

“Fine,” Andy acquiesces as Nicky takes off his jacket to bundle it around the girl. 

**~~~**

Getting from France to England with a small baby should _not_ have been as hard as it was. 

Between having to stop at a store to get supplies for her and enough new clothes for them, Joe is glad to be pulling up to Copley’s house. 

It doesn’t hurt that the baby likes his beard so Joe has been holding her since they found her. He doesn’t mind _per se,_ and there’s an interesting look on Nicky’s face he hasn’t quite seen before, but still. 

He’s brought out of his musings by Copley’s indignant squawk. “Please tell me you did not _steal_ a baby?!”

“We didn’t _steal_ her,” Joe says as he pushes his way into Copley’s house just as Booker comes into the living room.

“Wha?”

Joe stares at Booker and watches as a complicated set of emotions crosses his face before finally settling on fond.

“Bonjour. And who is this little one?”

“That’s what we were hoping you would find out,” Nile says as she sits down on the couch, baby bag next to her as Booker takes her right out of Joe’s arms. 

Copley stares at them for a second before muttering that he’ll be back as he turns toward his office. 

“What’s her name?”

“We don’t know,” Andy says as she sits next to Nile. 

Booker ignores them as he whispers sweet nothings to the girl in French, making her laugh and pat his cheek.

Joe feels Nicky come up next to him and place an arm around his waist. He smiles when he feels Nicky kiss his cheek.

“ _Habibi,”_ Nicky whispers into his ear and it makes him shiver. 

“We did the right thing.”

“We did.”

“Hopefully Copley can find out more about her.”

When Copley comes back out of his office, he has fingers on his nose like he’s staving off a headache. 

Joe watches, almost in slow motion, as Copley notices Booker holding the baby. It quite literally stops Copley in his tracks as he looks at Booker and the girl with such an abject _want_ that Joe almost looks away. 

Oh. 

_Oh._

It hits him. That’s the same look Nicky was throwing his way when he was holding the girl. 

Nicky gives him a questioning look, but Joe shakes his head as they both look over at Copley who has gone over to Booker to kiss him while he still holds the baby. Booker laughs at him as he bounces the baby and Copley smiles before he turns toward the rest of them.

“Her name is Jeanne.” 

Joe can tell the _exact_ moment Jeanne’s name registers with Booker because he stills so suddenly it would _almost_ be comical, if he wasn’t holding the baby.

“Jeanne?” Booker asks barely above a whisper. 

Copley swallows and nods and Joe has a sneaking suspicion that he’s also barely holding back tears. 

Her name is so close to Booker’s late son, Jean-Pierre, that it almost feels like destiny. 

“Mon chère,” Booker says into her hair as he holds her closer. 

Cooley clears his throat. “Her parents were killed right after she was born. No known family. She was living at the orphanage.”

“The one they were using as the sex trafficking ring?” Andy asks and Copley nods.

“I called a friend at the Embassy. They would fast track an adoption for her since they’re the ones who asked for the job.”

“Adoption?” Booker asks him quietly and looks between Jeanne and Copley.

There’s a world of hope and fear on both of their faces, and while they usually have very little privacy between them, this isn’t something the rest of them need to be a part of.

Nicky must have the same thought because he walks over to Booker and plucks Jeanne right out of his arms as he waves at everyone to follow.

“Ciao Jeanne, sono tuo Zio Nico,” Nicky coos to the baby as she laughs. “Talk amongst yourselves, we’ll make lunch.” 

Joe follows along happily, knowing he _also_ has a similar look of want on his face. 

“Do you think they’re going to adopt her?” Nile asks as Nicky holds Jeanne on one hip while he rummages through the refrigerator.

“Oh yeah,” Andy answers as she pulls a bag of chips out of the pantry. 

The one thing about knowing Booker for over two hundred years means they know his eating habits.

Joe goes to help Nicky make sandwiches for everyone and some baby food concoction for Jeanne before she starts reaching for him.

“Sit,” Nicky directs him to the bar stool so he can put Jeanne on the counter. “I’ll do this.” 

Joe nods and does as he’s told, Nile coming over to coo at Jeanne, as well. 

Before Nicky even finishes the first sandwich, Booker and Copley walk back into the kitchen, both glowing and looking like the two luckiest people Joe has ever seen.

“We’re keeping her.”

“We know.” 

**2026**

After finding out Jeanie’s birthday five years prior, they all made it a point to always come back to England to celebrate it. 

As the years passed Joe, Nicky, Nile, and even Andy found themselves more often than not back at Booker and Copley’s house for holidays and long weekends. 

Now, they’re here to celebrate Jeanie’s fifth birthday and Joe doesn’t think they’ve ever been happier. 

Joe looks out over the railing as Copley comes to stand next to him. Down on the patio, Booker is throwing his five-year-old daughter in the air, making her laugh as Andy and Nile laugh along with her. 

Joe smiles at the look of pure joy on Booker’s face and on Copley’s.

“He stopped healing,” Copley speaks quietly enough that Joe’s not sure he heard him but when he looks over at Copley, the tears in his eyes are enough.

“He wanted me to tell you first. He’ll tell the others after dinner.”

Joe feels a pang in his chest at the thought of his friend one day no longer being with them, but then he looks at Jeanie and thinks that Nicky’s right and things do happen for a reason.

“How?”

“He cut himself cooking,” Copley smiles. “I couldn’t get the bleeding to stop and it wasn’t until Jeanie started crying that Sébastien even tried to help. I think he’s stared at the tiny cut more than he ever has me.”

Joe scoffs good naturedly. “You definitely don’t see how he looks at you then. Both of you.” 

“He grabbed a knife and cut his arm to be sure. Bled all over the bathroom, bled through two different wraps.”

“Ah, that would explain the long sleeves.”

“I’ve never…” Copley shakes his head. “He was just crying.”

“Those were tears of joy my friend, of that I’m sure.”

“He’s not nearly as old as Andy or even you or Nicky. How?”

“You know we don’t know the how or the why. Although if I had to guess, I’d say I know why this time.”

“If you had to guess, huh?”

Joe chuckles and turns to pull Copley into a hug, surprising him enough to let out a small squeak. 

“Thank you for loving him,” Joe whispers.

“It was easy,” Copley responds.

They separate in time to see Booker hand Jeanie over to her Aunties as he bounds up the stairs two at a time to reach Joe and pull him into a bear hug. 

Joe can tell Copley has left to go downstairs so he just squeezes Booker back as hard as he can. 

“I love you,” Joe whispers and Booker squeezes him impossibly tighter.

“I love you, too.”

**2030**

“Are you nervous?” Joe asks Booker as Nicky finishes tying Booker’s tie and Joe straightens his own suit.

“Surprisingly, no,” Booker smiles and ducks his head. 

Joe wasn’t surprised when they finally got the call that Booker and Copley were getting married. While Booker had been talking about it for years, Joe knew that Booker didn’t want to weigh Copley down with an immortal husband. 

Like that would’ve stopped Copley. 

So now, here they are, and Booker’s about to get married, in front of their friends and family and Joe has never seen Booker look so at peace.

“It's a good look on you, Brother.”

“What is?”

“Happiness.”

“Joe, dammit. Don’t make me cry.”

“Yet,” Nicky snickers and Booker rolls his eyes at him. 

“Sorry, sorry.” 

Joe laughs as he walks over to hug Booker who hugs him back just as tight. 

“We’ll see you out there?”

“Wait.”

Booker grabs both of their arms and spins them to look at him. 

“Booker?”

“Walk me down?” Booker clears his throat. “Both of you?”

“I thought you were walking with Jeanie?”

“I am.”

Joe wipes away the tears that have started falling down his face. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” 

Booker says it with such conviction that neither Joe or Nicky can resist. 

“Of course.”

**~~~**

“What are you thinking about, Hayati?” Nicky asks as he sneaks up on Joe. 

They’re standing in a secluded part of Booker and Copley’s garden as he watches the grooms dance the night away.

“I’m thinking I want to do this.”

“Get married again?”

“Yes.”

“Are you proposing to me?” Nicky laughs. “And not even on one knee?”

Joe lowers himself to the ground and gets down on one knee, finally looking up at Nicky’s gasp. He opens the ring box and the tears Nicky’s sporting are now mirrored on Joe’s face.

It’s the first ring Joe ever proposed to Nicky with. Joe wears some of the rings Nicky proposed to him with over the years but Nicky prefers to keep his tucked away in their homes. Joe doesn’t mind, especially when he can still surprise Nicky after all these years. 

“Nicolò di Genova, will you marry me?”

“No big speech?”

Joe laughs at the ridiculous man he’s been in love with for what feels like his whole life and just smiles when Nicky starts to cry even without the speech.

“So, no?”

“Sì, sì. You’re insufferable.” 

Nicky pulls him up as he takes back his ring and puts it on his ring finger.

“But I’m yours.” 

“You are.” 

Nicky kisses him and Joe still feels like it’s the first time all over again. 

Joe pulls back when he feels a small tug on his jacket.

“Did he say yes, Uncle Joe?” Jeanie asks him and even though she’s nearly ten, he picks her up and twirls her around.

“He did!” Joe says as he kisses her cheek just to hear her giggle. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

“No I am,” Nicky says as he comes up to tickle her sides. 

“Zio Nico!” Jeanie squeals as she laughs and they both end up twirling her around until they’ve carried her back to the dance floor. 

“Papa! Daddy! They’re getting married!” Jeanie shrieks at a super high volume only kids seem to be able to produce and Copley smiles at his daughter as he lifts her up. 

“They’re already married,” Booker grumbles. 

Nicky swats at him and Booker smiles. “Don’t confuse her, Sébastien.” 

Booker pulls them both into a hug and they return it in equal fervor. “Happy for you.” 

“We’re happy for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course,” Joe says earnestly. 

“Did you think two hundred years ago we’d be here?” Booker asks them as they stand and watch everyone dancing.

“Book, I didn’t think even ten years ago we’d be here.” Joe quietly fiddles with a cuff link as Nicky squeezes his shoulder to go dance with Andy.

“Joe.”

“No, I don’t want to upset you on your wedding day, and I’m not upset, I promise you that. But I didn’t see a way out from everything that happened and then I met that little girl over there and she changed my whole world.”

“Mine, too.” 

Booker’s crying now and Joe hugs him again.

“I didn’t realize that we’d never seen you happy, truly happy, and for that I’m sorry.”

“No, Joe.”

“No, listen. When we brought Jeanie here and I saw you and Copley, I knew that I had never seen true happiness on you, not like that.”

“They’re all I ever wanted.” Booker clears his throat. “And it took me a while to realize that while I miss my wife and my sons, I have James and Jeanie in addition to them, not in place of them.”

“I think that’s true.” 

“I think someone you know told me that.” Booker chuckles as he looks across the garden at Nicky. 

“He’s a smart man,” Joe responds lovingly. 

“Too smart for the likes of us.”

“I’ll drink to that.” 

“We got lucky, Joe.” Booker smiles at him and Joe smiles back. 

“We did.” 

**2043**

“Can you believe Jeanie is getting married?” Joe asks Nicky as they wait in Booker’s and Copley’s home in England for the wedding to start. 

“Yes, Habibi.”

“She’s so young.”

“She’s not that young.”

Joe gives Nicky a _look_ and Nicky smothers a smile into his shoulder as he finishes fixing his tie. 

“Not everyone can get married as many times as us, even if they want to, in different languages, different customs, different worlds,” Nicky says lovingly.

“You have a way with words, amore mio.”

“I learned from the best.” 

Nicky smiles and kisses him once, just as the door to their guest room bursts open and Booker drops dramatically on the bed.

“Ugh,” Booker groans as Nicky and Joe sit next to him. 

“I’m not ready for my baby to get married.”

Joe chuckles as Nicky bumps shoulders with him. 

“She walked you down the aisle. It’s only fair you return the favor.” Nicky’s eyes are twinkling and Booker shoots daggers at him.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right I don’t,” Booker sighs. “I’m gonna be a mess.”

“I think we all are,” Joe says. 

Nile and Andy have been gushing about how Jeanie looks in her wedding dress for months and Andy won’t admit it but she’s definitely shed a tear or two. 

“She won’t let me see until right before, but she’s letting James see,” Booker pouts at them and Joe laughs.

“Because she knows her Papa and she doesn’t want to ruin her makeup.”

“Ugh. I hate you both. So much,” Booker says as he gets up to leave. 

“Love you, too!” Both Nicky and Joe shout after him.

When Booker and Copley walk Jeanie down the aisle, it doesn’t matter what kind of blubbering mess Booker is because Joe and Nicky are right there with him. 

**2046**

Joe can’t help but laugh when Jeanie announces the name of her twin sons, Bastien and Jimmy, and from the looks on Booker’s and Copley’s faces, he’s guessing those aren’t names they say outside of their own bedroom, much to their daughters' ignorance.

“I hate you,” Booker grumbles and Copley shakes his head. 

“Habibi. Come hold Jimmy,” Nicky beckons from the couch, giving the new parents a moment to sit with everyone.

Joe picks Jimmy up out of his bassinet and sits down next to Nicky, leaning into his side. 

“You look good holding a baby, amore mio.” 

Joe kisses the side of Nicky’s cheek, close to his jaw and Nicky hums his agreement. 

Booker sits on the coffee table in front of them as he leans closer to his grandkids. “You both do.” 

“And age looks good on you Sébastien,” Joe smirks at the familiar joke but his eyes soften when he sees Booker smile. 

“I never.” Booker clears his throat and Nicky puts a hand on his knee. “I never got to meet my other grandchildren.”

“Booker,” Nicky says quietly. 

“No,” Booker waves them away. “It’s okay. I think it was so I could meet them.” Booker nods to Bastien and Jimmy.

Joe reaches out and grabs Booker’s hand. 

“I think you’re right.” 

**2071**

****Joe carries a tray of drinks outside and places them on the table as he goes to stand next to Jeanie from where she’s leaning against the railing overlooking her backyard.

Joe’s thrown back to almost fifty years ago as he remembers looking down at Booker and Jeanie while speaking to Copley. Only now, Copley and Booker are both gone, Jeanine just became a grandmother, and Joe and Nicky are still the cool uncles who look thirty. 

Andy passed ten years prior and Copley and Booker passed together, on Andy’s ten year anniversary. Every year, they meet up on the day at their English home. 

This time though, it was the last time he saw either Booker or Copley. 

It’s been a week since then and Joe doesn’t think the ache in his heart will _ever_ go away. 

“It feels weird that Papà wanted to die, Uncle Joe.”

“He wanted to die so he could _live_ for you, Habibi.”

Jeanie smiles at him. This is a familiar conversation. Booker and Copley both lived into their nineties, plus a couple hundred years for Booker. 

“He did, didn’t he?”

Joe pulls her into his side and she comes easily like she has so many times before. 

“When he met your Dad,” Joe chokes up thinking back to that time in their lives. “He was in a bad place. And your Dad helped save him. So they could have you.”

“I think it’s beautiful how they met, even if…”

Jeanie trails off and Joe chuckles. She’s well aware of _all_ of their history, having taken over for Copley and running their jobs a couple years prior. _A true family business,_ as Nile likes to say. 

“They saved each other.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Well I always am.” Joe ruffles her hair just like he did when she was seven and still thought he hung the moon.

“Uncle Joe!” Jeanie laughs as she shoves at him and he laughs along with her. 

“And what are my two favorite people up to?” Nicky jokes as he comes outside to join them.

“You don’t fool me Nicolò di Genova. I’m no more your favorite person than Joe is a monk,” Jeanie jokes as she hugs Nicky and heads downstairs.

“It is not my fault your son named his son Nico!” Nicky shouts after her and Joe laughs as Nicky’s arms come around his waist as he hugs him from behind.

Before he can truly appreciate Nicky’s closeness, Jeanie comes back up the stairs with two gifts in her hands.

“Here,” Jeanie says, shoving the bags into their hands, and they look at her incredulously.

“Papa and Dad got you something.”

“Jeanie.”

“They made me promise to wait until they were gone.” Jeanie’s eyes well up and Nicky and Joe don’t hesitate as they pull Jeanie toward them and hug her. 

“Okay. Okay. I’m going. They didn’t want me to be here when you opened them.”

“Are you sure?” Joe asks her as she retreats down the stairs.

“I’m sure.” 

She waves behind her in such a Booker move that Joe’s heart clenches.

“I can’t believe them.”

“I can,” Nicky says as he pulls a mini box out of the bag.

“What is it?”

Nicky reads the small card and starts laughing. 

“Nicolò?”

“It’s a monthly subscription of baklava from around the world.”

“No it’s not,” Joe laughs as Nicky shows him the card and opens up the box that has the first month's baklava inside. 

“Of course this is what he’d give you.”

“I know,” Nicky says as he places his bag on the table and gestures for Joe to open his bag.

Joe pulls out two tickets and a note and if Nicky wasn’t standing so close, he thinks he would’ve doubled over in laughter.

“What is it, Habibi?”

“Season tickets to France’s football league.”

“No?” 

“Sì,” Joe smiles. “An asshole even in death.”

“I think he just wanted to get me to go to a match.”

“You’re going to go with me?”

“I’ll go for Booker.”

“I see how it is!” Joe leans closer to kiss Nicky, pleased when Nicky makes a low sound in the back of his throat. 

Joe pulls away before they get too carried away and sets his bag down next to Nicky’s on the table. He leans into Nicky and finally feels his heart settle down when Nicky wraps his arms around him as they look down at the people below on the patio. 

“How are you, amore mio?” Nicky asks. 

“I’m okay.” 

Nicky kisses his cheek as he hooks his chin over Joe’s shoulder. Joe grabs Nicky’s hands from where they’re holding him as he leans back into his embrace. 

They both look down at the patio and see Jeanie and her husband. Their sons, Jimmy and Bastien, with their partners and Jimmy’s young son, Nico. Nile and Frankie, another immortal they found about nine years ago, are sitting next to Jeanie, all smiles as they coo over the baby. 

“We’ve lived so many lifetimes these last fifty years,” Nicky whispers against Joe’s ear. 

“It’s because we stopped and watched the generations grow, amore mio.”

“We did, didn't we?”

“Sì.”

“Would you ever want this?”

“I want to be wherever you are.”

“No. I mean, this,” Nicky gestures around them and Joe understands.

“You mean kids?”

“I mean, if we ever find out that our wounds no longer heal, would you want to settle down and think about kids?”

Joe turns so he can look at Nicky as he grabs his shoulders.

“I would give _anything_ to grow old with you, Nicolò.”

Nicky blushes as he kisses Joe once, quickly.

“I believe that no matter what, it is our destiny to go together, so if that’s in old age, then yes, I think kids would be something I’d want, to add to our little family.”

“However many generations down the line it is?”

“Sì. Even if there are no more generations, I would still like that.”

“Maybe whenever that happens, we can think of adopting one from Italy, one from Maghrib. A little of both of us?” Nicky asks him hopefully and Joe’s heart overflows with love for this man.

“I would love that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, amore mio.” Joe kisses him once and leans against him. “I would love nothing more than to see you be a father. But even if that never happens, please know I don’t need that to be fulfilled.”

“I know, Habibi.”

“I still think it’s a ways off. I don’t feel that it is our time.”

“I don’t either.” 

“You think there’ll be a new one soon?” Joe thinks back to how they met Nile when Andy lost her immortality and how they met Frankie when Andy passed.

“There might be,” Nicky says quietly. 

Even though they don’t need to do as much fighting as they used to, it’s still hard to think of subjecting someone else to their life even if they love it. 

Luckily technology has taken over and cyber crimes is where they put their time and energy. But sometimes they still get their hands dirty.

“There’s gotta be some kind of balance.”

“You think?”

“It feels that way.” 

Joe wonders, not for the first time, if it’s all connected. 

Andy having Quynh. How he and Nicky came into this life together. How Nile found Frankie not long after losing Andy. Booker losing his immortality once he found Copley. 

He likes to think it is.

“Everything happens for a reason.”

“So you always say, Nicolò.”

Nicky leans into him to kiss him and Joe lets himself get lost in the kiss. 

“And I always will.” 

**2099**

“Nicolò! Hurry up or we’re gonna be late!” Joe says as he runs through their house gathering his keys and phone. 

They’re heading to a party at Jimmy’s house, which was originally Booker’s and Copley’s. 

They’re celebrating their first millennium together. It’s hard to imagine sometimes that he met Nicky on a battlefield a thousand years ago. But, for whatever reason, he’s glad he did. 

“Nicky?” Joe says as he walks into their bathroom and notices Nicky is a little pale and staring at his hand. 

It’s then that Joe notices the cut and the blood dripping into the sink. 

“Nicolò,” Joe breathes as he places Nicky’s hands under the water. 

Nicky has tears in his eyes as they watch the cut keep bleeding. Joe doesn’t think twice before he grabs his pocket knife and slices the same finger on his own hand and watches in awe as the bleeding doesn’t stop and the wound doesn’t close. 

Joe grabs Nicky’s face in his bloody hand and kisses him full of laughter and love. 

“Together?”

“Together.” 

This is just the beginning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come find me on Tumblr - same username!


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